Activist group puts banner on Christ of the Ozarks
An activist group put a banner carrying a message advocating abortion rights on the Christ of the Ozarks statue in Eureka Springs overnight.
People with the group Indecline say they brought the 44-foot-long cloth banner through the woods. A spokesperson for the group insisted on remaining anonymous but told 40/29 News that they used pulleys to install it across the Christ of the Ozarks and weighted the banner down with buckets of water.
The banner read "God Bless Abortions.”
The group spokesperson said that they were a "guerilla art collective" and that this protest was in response to new abortion laws in Arkansas and elsewhere in the southern United States.
The spokesperson asked to remain anonymous. He said, "we've been doing work in the South because of the consistent pressure we have seen on Roe v. Wade, as well as the and recenet rulings against abortion rights in states like Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana. When we saw the Christ of the Ozarks statue, we knew that would be the perfect canvas for our protest."
An organizer for the Great Passion Play told 40/29 the banner was dangerous and it almost unfurled and flew away.
"I was very nervious for people helping to take it down. It was dangerous," Kent Butler, the Passion Play Operations Director told 40/29 News.
The CEO, Randall Christy," said that they filed a police report and plan to pursue criminal charges, including trespassing and vandalism. He said that he believes they were targeted due to the statue's prominence and their mission to promote Christianity as a faith-based group.
"It's an interesting juxtaposition that I hope people look at. You've got Jesus who stands for life with a pro-abortion sign in front of him. I think that is a a true depiction of our choices in life. We need to ask ourselves, do we stand for life or death?"
Built in 1966, the massive, 65.5-foot tall statue stands near Eureka Springs. It also appeared in the movies "Elizabethtown" and "Pass the Ammo." It is the tallest statue of Jesus Christ in the United States.